I am a guinea mom of two guinea pigs, Delilah and Rose. Delilah, my 2 year old cavy, was diagnosed with diarrhea today. The vet gave her antibiotics and I have instructions on force feeding her and etc. I'm very worried and shaken at the thought of losing her... I felt like communicated with other guinea parents would help me get through it, no matter what the outcome. :) Hi, I'm Tyra.

You can also syringe Pedilyte (the generic is just as good as the brand name stuff) to her to help with dehydration.

If she's not eating at all, you MUST force feed her. Guinea pigs are wired to need food moving through them at all times, or the stomach acids which they constantly secrete will eat holes in the lining of the stomach, and can also become bloated. A guinea pig that's eating nothing needs 100 cc of Critical Care or pellet slurry for every kilogram it weighs, every day, split into 6-8 servings around the clock. You adjust up or down according to the pig's weight, and down if the pig is eating on its own.

She was bloated the day before she could get to the vet and ended up eating on her own and no bloating later. I checked her three times after she began to eat and poop. The third time she was bloated again. The vet has already given me a syringe and told me to force feed her baby food and fluids. I've given her the meds and some baby food earlier. She is very relctuant so I have to take multiple breaks as I try t feed and hydrate her. I'm trying to figure out a schedule for her feeding and drinking. It's so weird trying to do this for her. Trying to understand how often she needs things. She has hay available around the clock. It also breaks my heart. ;'( I last forced food at 10pm and water at 11pm. I hve set alrmes for 3am and 10am. Any tips and comfort would be great right now. Thanks for everything so far.

I'm not positve which is the antibiotic. One is vitamin C. She has Metronidazole every 12 hours, and enrofloxacin once a day. Both crushed and mixed with baby food. She is fighting the syringe less now, thankfully. So I am able to administer more food/water at a time now. I still must take frequent breaks when she is too irritated and annoyed. She seems to be doing well. And thank you, I do need to remember to weigh her daily.

I have hay available to her. As far as I can tell, she has yet to eat it, but progress is being made.
It is hard to administer the medication within the same hour and sometimes a few hours as when she is too annoyed it mostly gets on her face. So if she is too unwilling, I leave her be for a while to get more into her instead of onto her. I swaddle her when I give her the syringe but she can still move her head. (I'm probably not doing it right.) I've tried to find video tutorials on swaddling guinea pigs, but most people can get their pigs to eat through syringe without swaddling. I feel awful that I can't keep a good schedule with her, but I know that I'm trying my best. Trying not to beat myself up too much about it.

She is eagerly receiving water, but unhappy about it being given by syringe. I have her at work with me right now, so her water bottle isn't here. She will probably willingly drink from her bottle when we get home. I will try later and let you all know. It took three hours to force feed her full dosage with baby food. Hopefully the length of time doesn't cause too much of a probably with her getting better. I'm going to shop for a smaller and longer syringe after work so it can go right to her throat. I saw a few force feeding cavy videos last night. I think she still has some food in her cheeks. The more she ingests the better, especially with the medication in it.

Sorry I took so long to update. Delilah is doing so much better. She is happily drinking a lot of water from her bottle. She still won't eat, but of course I still force feed her. Her poops are much less runny. Almost normal. The shape is regular, but they are a bit smaller than usual. She was whining while she pooped, but she hasn't lately, which is good. I got smaller syringes from CVS and they are working great! It is a lot easier to get them in her mouth and she also seems more comfortable with the small syringes. I almost forgot to weigh her! I will go do it after this post. But thanks for all the support. She is doing good.

So, she was fine and eating on her own for about a week. The vet told me to take her off meds to see if it will make her want to eat on her own, and it did. Slowly eating, then normal and back to weird eating. She will only eat lettuce now. The vet told me to put her back on medication. She has lost some weight. I have her here at work with me and her fur feels cold. I put a small heater on her on a low setting. How can I check/estimate her temperature with my hand, since I do not have a thermometer??

You don't need to. They're plenty well insulated, and most prefer cooler temperatures to warmer ones anyway. I'd just make sure she's got a couple of small hideys that will trap her body heat rather than using a heater.

Yeah, her hidey hole wouldn't fit in the box I have her in to take her to work. I have the heater placed so it can't heat her entire encasement. She moved from the far corner to in front of the heater, so I'm assuming she likes it. But, I don't like the idea of using the heater either.